Does Anyone Use Thermite Mines?

[Crusader (Banned13x)]

They seem incredibly underpowered for Demolitionists. Looks great on paper for lowering resists, but nearly useless in practice. The range of them not increasing with point investment seems like the biggest issue. Is there any reason they have been designed this way?

When I first saw the skill I was expecting something cool like flame jets shooting out the sides of the mine in several directions, maybe even spinning, or at least an explosion. But this...How can anyone use these?

[Catalytic]

Any skill that lowers resistances is going to get use. Yes, plenty of builds use Thermite Mine.

[GD4Ever]

Use them in combination with other skills. Works fine. Always synergies going on. One skill will compliment some other skills.

[MedeaFleecestealer]

Have to say I hate them and never use them. Awkward to place properly and I'd rather use Blackwater Cocktail myself.

[Crusader (Banned13x)]

Originally posted by Catalytic:

Any skill that lowers resistances is going to get use. Yes, plenty of builds use Thermite Mine.

How do they lower resists if it's nearly impossible to get enemies to stand within range of them? They shoot straight up in a narrow line.

Even when I cast them right underneath an enemy's feet, the placement often causes them to not hit them or the enemy simply walks a few feet away and they once again become useless. What's the secret to making them work?

Originally posted by MedeaFleecestealer:

Have to say I hate them and never use them. Awkward to place properly and I'd rather use Blackwater Cocktail myself.

Right? Seems like they're only useful on static enemies like the Loghorrean, or maybe an Aetherial Obelisk.

[Wintermute]

Their area of effect is wider than it looks. And the idea is, you set up the kill area and keep the enemies in there.

One way or the other, they are mandatory on any elemental build.

[Blake]

Originally posted by MedeaFleecestealer:

Have to say I hate them and never use them. Awkward to place properly and I'd rather use Blackwater Cocktail myself.

They're not awkward at all. There is no cooldown when you put them down so you can move them whenever you want.

Drop 3 here and 3 there. I always drop 3 directly in front of me so enemies stand in them then 3 near a big group. As enemies move around just drop them again where needed.

[GD4Ever]

And if you happen to have another skill that will slow down the mobs so they hang around in there, even better!

[Crusader (Banned13x)]

So it's a useless skill unless combined with another skill that has crowd control effects, basically.

Alright, thanks for the replies. I'll see if I can find a combo to make it work sometime.

[tutzdes]

Originally posted by Crusader (Banned10x):

So it's a useless skill unless combined with another skill that has crowd control effects, basically.

Alright, thanks for the replies. I'll see if I can find a combo to make it work sometime.

It is an anti-boss skill. By itself it deals little damage, so against crowds of weaker enemies it is offers little utility. It needs a true damage dealing skill and durable enemy to shine.

During endgame main "crowd-control skill" is a player character's face. You drop mines, stand in them and use damaging skills on enemies who charge you.

I'm not a fan of mines but for a different reason: they are too essential and reduce variability of builds. Every elemental Demo-based class tosses thermite mines non-stop. Compared to Devotions-based RR, mines are less clunky and every bit of stackable RR is vital.

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Originally posted by Crusader (Banned10x):

So it's a useless skill unless combined with another skill that has crowd control effects, basically.

no
not to mention most bosses are basically immune to crowd control

i'm not saying mines isn't the most clunky form of RR in the game, but it seems to be there is some misunderstandings or misperceptions as to how they work

-->

Originally posted by Wintermute:

Their area of effect is wider than it looks. .

each mine covers a 2.4m radius (that's wider than player char is tall), since you're tossing 3 and can toss up to 6 you're covering a fair bit of ground, which makes it simple to apply the RR to enemies/bosses
*if* you're playing grim dawn the way it's "supposed" to, https://imgur.com/a/Iuz8jqD
if you're then, for whatever reason you choose, running around, kiting casters like a trozan Sorc or "thematically" attempting to constantly stay at range as a gunner, then yes it will be more difficult to utilize the mines/apply the RR, because you're not making the enemy stand in their static aura range
couple of examples of what i'm referring to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9zGj36CJuA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neNjUhBJbOg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE5bUdgFcDA

and yes i'm well aware of these are highly tuned endgame builds so might appear like i'm trying to skew things with something only applicable to the best of chars, but that's not the case (i just don't know where to find/who has levelling videos showcasing mines use)
the point is that you can build to do this, also during levelling, where staying in place around mines (think player "orbiting" around the mines placement), or straight up facetanking, means you're not having issues with the RR/radius part of it and just the cast of it/every relocation in new fights
- and to me the recast is the annoying part, when it then doesn't have the same coverage as other cast RR (Curse of Frailty/Word of Pain), and similarly is annoying for like Devouring Swarm

[Neit]

Others had said it already, but just to drive the point home:
As with any % resist reduction skills is basically a must-pick skill if your damage type matches the reduced resistance, considering that % resist reduction stacks.

[WallaceTheSane]

%reduced resist skills are always necessary for any build. It makes things go a lot faster than you'd expect. I used to feel like it was wasteful to do so, until I got higher level and started running higher difficulty. It almost doubles my damage output with any build I've played since. My very first character was a druid+arcanist build around Panetti's. It was awful without lowered resist skills.

[Lasagna]

I really hate them they feel so clunky to use but are absolutely mandatory for endgame bossing on any kind of elemental demo build because of the massive resist shred.

[Entropos]

They're not there for damage.

You use them to reduce resists.

For a purifier, Aura of Censure is obviously more reliable. But *every* end game build needs to be able to reduce the resistances of bosses, and if you don't have another method, you'll want to use these.

As others have said (and still others have misunderstood) - they're for bosses. The boss stands there, you put the mines under their feet, and now the boss is easier to hit.

Most mobs don't have enough resistance to justify using the mines.

The damage they do is trivial for bosses, and they're useless in most other situations.

Again - just think of them are "defense shredders" and they make more sense.

There are much better options for non-boss mobs.

[Neit]

Originally posted by Entropos:

For a purifier, Aura of Censure is obviously more reliable. But *every* end game build needs to be able to reduce the resistances of bosses, and if you don't have another method, you'll want to use these.

Just to make sure it's absolutely clear to everyone reading this, Aura of Censure and Thermite Mines stack. All the -x% stack cumulatively, so just get it from as many sources as possible.

They also do stack with different types of resist reduction (although differently), in case of Demolitionist it's worth to mention that Blackwater Cocktail provides flat resist reduction, which stacks with the above, but won't stack with another flat resist reduction (only highest source works here).

Originally posted by Entropos:

Most mobs don't have enough resistance to justify using the mines.

This is another good point, it's usually faster and easier to simply kill regular mobs than trying to apply RR on them.